SkinCeuticals is all about science-backed skin care solutions, and the founding scientist behind that effort is none other than Dr. Sheldon Pinnell.

“Dr. Pinnell was a giant in the field,” says LovelySkin CEO Dr. Joel Schlessinger, board-certified dermatologist, Mohs surgeon and cosmetic surgeon. “In addition to being the Department Chair of Dermatology at Duke University, he was active in the cosmeceutical world and intensely curious about how to improve the offerings available.”

Though Dr. Pinnell died in 2013, his legacy lives on in the form of continued research and innovations at SkinCeuticals.

Remembering Dr. Pinnell

Dr. Joel Schlessinger met Dr. Pinnell in 1997 at the American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting, and the two kept in touch over the years thanks to their intersecting interests in skin care research.

“He was polite, but you could also tell he was driven by the science behind the products,” Dr. Joel Schlessinger said. “I always felt he was yearning to find the next big thing, and his excitement was infectious. It drove me, in many ways, to move forward with LovelySkin in the manner I did over the years.”

Dr. Joel Schlessinger credits Dr. Pinnell for putting cosmeceuticals as a whole on the radar of Americans and the world. “It is difficult to look back and paint the picture of what things were like before dermatologists like Dr. Pinnell scientifically developed suites of products that had legitimate research behind them,” Dr. Joel Schlessinger says. “It was the Wild West out there, and people would come to my office with store-bought products and tales of woe from lack of results and insane promises that clearly weren't going to happen.”

Revolutionary research and securing SkinCeuticals patents

Dr. Pinnell played a pivotal role in the history of dermatology. Over the course of his forty-year research career, he published more than 200 scientific articles and secured ten different patents.

The Duke Antioxidant Patent is one of the most notable. This patent outlines the most effective combination of factors required for vitamin C to work in the skin, including the form (pure L-ascorbic acid), pH (acidic, between 2.0 and 3.5) and concentration (10-20%). The patent showed that a water-soluble antioxidant such as vitamin C could pair with vitamin E, a lipid-based antioxidant, and it paved the way for some of SkinCeuticals’ most prolific antioxidant serums, including C E Ferulic.

“The last time I saw Dr. Pinnell was in 2005 when he introduced SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic at the American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting,” Dr. Joel Schlessinger says. “There was a large event and rollout, and I knew it was going to be big but never had any idea it would be this large! Twenty years later, it is still one of our best products in the entire antioxidant realm, and it is consistently one of the top products we sell on LovelySkin. Without it, there would be fewer options for consumers that offer a stabilized vitamin C, along with ferulic acid and vitamin E. The fact that they play well together and can penetrate the skin is the genius behind his work.”

Dr. Pinnell was also instrumental in securing a patent for the innovative formula behind SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF, which combats discoloration with 2% phloretin, 10% pure vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) and 0.5% ferulic acid. “The combination of products Dr. Pinnell developed are still relevant twenty years later and more,” Dr. Schlesinger says. “This is absolutely unheard of, but a testament to his forward-thinking intellect.”

Are you interested in learning more about skin care products by dermatologists? You can learn more about how to treat dry skin around the eyes with dermatologist-approved products here on the LovelySkin Blog.